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VOCABULARY REFERENCE & PRACTICE — GRADE 12 — IDENTITY AND BELONGING IN A CHANGING WORLD

The House We Remember

Key Vocabulary — 12 terms — Grade 12 High School

Name: _________________________    Date: _____________    Class: _____________

📚 Vocabulary Reference

Study each term with its definition and real-world context sentence.

1
inheritance
What is received from an earlier generation, including stories, relationships, obligations, silences, and harm as well as possessions.
2
belonging
The experience of being recognised as part of a place or community; the lesson asks who is allowed to belong and who helps make that possible.
3
memory
The mind’s ongoing relationship with what has happened; memory can preserve, revise, interrupt, or reshape a person’s understanding of home.
4
witness
A person or act that sees, records, or acknowledges what happened; witnessing can make a private history part of a shared responsibility.
5
inherit
To receive something from those who came before; a person can inherit both a legacy and the responsibility to interpret it.
6
trauma
A deeply distressing experience and its continuing effects; trauma can shape how people trust, remember, and inhabit a home.
7
displacement
The loss of a secure place through forced movement, exclusion, or the disruption of relationships; displacement can be physical, cultural, or emotional.
8
reconcile
To bring conflicting memories, obligations, or interpretations into a workable relationship without pretending that differences never existed.
9
testimony
A spoken or written account offered as evidence of an experience; testimony can challenge the silence surrounding an inherited history.
10
remembrance
The act of keeping a person, place, or event present through memory or ritual; remembrance can honour the past while opening a different future.
11
agency
The capacity to make meaningful choices and act on them; agency helps a person respond to inheritance rather than being defined by it alone.
12
beloved
Deeply loved or valued; in this lesson, the word also invites questions about how love, loss, and responsibility can remain connected in memory.

◾ Vocabulary Crossword

Use the clues below to fill in the crossword. Each answer is a vocabulary word from this lesson.

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→ Across
6.The loss of a secure place through forced movement, exclusion, or the disruption of relationships; displacement can be physical, cultural, or emotional.
10.To receive something from those who came before; a person can inherit both a legacy and the responsibility to interpret it.
11.A deeply distressing experience and its continuing effects; trauma can shape how people trust, remember, and inhabit a home.
12.The mind’s ongoing relationship with what has happened; memory can preserve, revise, interrupt, or reshape a person’s understanding of home.
↓ Down
1.The act of keeping a person, place, or event present through memory or ritual; remembrance can honour the past while opening a different future.
2.Deeply loved or valued; in this lesson, the word also invites questions about how love, loss, and responsibility can remain connected in memory.
3.A person or act that sees, records, or acknowledges what happened; witnessing can make a private history part of a shared responsibility.
4.The experience of being recognised as part of a place or community; the lesson asks who is allowed to belong and who helps make that possible.
5.To bring conflicting memories, obligations, or interpretations into a workable relationship without pretending that differences never existed.
7.What is received from an earlier generation, including stories, relationships, obligations, silences, and harm as well as possessions.
8.A spoken or written account offered as evidence of an experience; testimony can challenge the silence surrounding an inherited history.
9.The capacity to make meaningful choices and act on them; agency helps a person respond to inheritance rather than being defined by it alone.

🔍 Context Clues Challenge

Read each sentence and use context clues to identify the vocabulary word being described. Write the word on the line.

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✏️ Analytical Response

Write a well-structured paragraph of at least 6–8 sentences that analyzes the vocabulary words in relation to the themes of this lesson. Use at least 5 vocabulary words and demonstrate your understanding of both denotation (literal meaning) and connotation (emotional weight). Underline each vocabulary word you use.

Words I plan to use (circle at least 5):